K-12 Education

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K-12 Education

Immigrants and second-generation students who are children of immigrants confront a number of unique academic challenges, including limited proficiency in the host-country language and greater barriers in preparing for college and careers. Research here focuses on student educational attainment and in particular on English Language Learners (ELLs), who have persistent and wide achievement gaps with native English speakers. Adolescent ELLs face a greater workload, learning English at the same time they are studying core content areas in English—with resulting challenges in passing tests and completing graduation requirements.

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Nebraska's foreign-born population grew faster than that of any other Midwestern state between 1990 and 2000. Lourdes Gouveia and Mary Ann Powell of the University of Nebraska at Omaha shed light on the second generation's progress in the country's heartland.

As the U.S.-born children of Latino immigrants reach adulthood, new data suggest that they will fare better than their immigrant peers. Richard Fry, Senior Research Associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, explains why.

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MPI is pleased to host a discussion with experts from both KIND and the Women’s Refugee Commission, focusing on the causes of the increase in unaccompanied minor migrants, the situation these minors face once detained or apprehended, and the challenges confronting both nongovernmental organizations trying to provide aid and the U.S. government agencies responsible for processing minors through the system.

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This webinar covers key findings from MPI's report about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative and eligible populations two years after its implementation, and also introduces MPI's data tool that provides national and state-level estimates of the current and potentially eligible DACA populations, as well as detailed profiles for the U.S. and 25 states.

MPI experts, along with representatives from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the University of Georgia's Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, discuss the educational experiences of Georgia’s first- and second-generation immigrant youth and where Georgia’s ambitious education reforms have met—or failed to meet—the needs of this growing population.

The event discussion, which touched on the intersection of race and immigration, focused on the demographics of Black immigrants (both African and Caribbean) in the United States and their children, their educational success, and the implications of the recently released volume’s findings for research and public policy.

MPI experts, along with representatives from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the University of Georgia's Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, discuss the educational experiences of Georgia’s first- and second-generation immigrant youth and where Georgia’s ambitious education reforms have met—or failed to meet—the needs of this growing population.

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Recent Activity

For children of migrant background, school quality is critical to ensuring academic success. This MPI Europe policy brief examines how European policymakers can support school quality in four key areas: language diversity, the learning environment, social psychology and acculturation, and community connections.

Mentoring programs can target many core needs of children with an immigrant background that schools are not equipped to address, by providing specific and personalized support on the road to academic success. This policy brief prepared for the SIRIUS Network explores how European Union policymakers can make mentoring projects an integral part of the educational landscape at the EU level.

Whilst many European countries have well-established education systems, children with a migrant background are disproportionately among the underperformers and face a number of critical education needs that mainstream education policy does not currently meet. This policy brief prepared for the SIRIUS Network provides an overview of how education policies can be improved for children of migrant background.

A discussion and report release on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, how its educational requirements may be impacting application rates, and recommendations for overcoming the education-success challenges that key subgroups of DACA-DREAM youth face.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unprecedented in the scope of its educational requirements. This report provides sociodemographic snapshots of three key DACA groups, explores the challenges to their educational success, and offers recommendations for educators and other stakeholders looking to support the educational attainment of these young unauthorized immigrants.

County- and state-level data examining the populations potentially eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program show an interesting level of ethnic and enrollment diversity that is obscured when examining national-level findings. This commentary examines a few of the findings learned from the new MPI profiles of DACA populations in 36 counties, which are accessible via an online data tool.

This report examines the development of immigrant integration policies in Denmark over the past 15 years, specifically focusing on the centralization of Danish integration policies and exploring differences between policy frameworks at national and local levels, where certain areas have developed less restrictive and more accommodating policy responses to immigrant integration.

Estimates of unauthorized immigrant populations that could receive relief from deportation under potential executive action scenarios to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, extend deferred action to other populations, or refine immigration enforcement priorities are discussed during this webinar.

In the Spotlight

As many as 5.2 million unauthorized immigrants could gain relief under new and expanded deferred action programs that President Obama unveiled in November 2014. Check out our U.S. and state breakdowns of the populations that could benefit from the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or new deferred action program for certain parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.